Brand Design Problems: Choosing the Right Logo

With the advent of the internet, there are literally millions of new businesses springing up across the world. This has its plus sides and its down sides for business owners. Competition is becoming increasingly fierce. You are no longer just up against local businesses, but national and international ones too. On the plus side, there are far more opportunities to grow with a worldwide market.

Business owners are realising that the only way to get ahead is to make their business stand out from the crowd. You have to put real time, effort and resources into creating a brand that tells people who you are and what you do in a unique and appealing way.

One of the most important facets of this is creating a business logo. Having a logo for your brand that people recognise and equate with quality services and products can be the difference between success and failure. Despite being vitally important, there are still some common mistakes made by businesses when creating their logos. Let’s have a look at the top five.

1. Cutting Corners on the Design Work

Jotting down a logo idea and then handing it over to someone to replicate is not going to do your business any favours. Designers are highly skilled experts with trained eyes and a depth of knowledge on how your logo will appear in different formats. One logo may look good on a website but will fade into insignificance on a uniform. It’s important to source a designer who you can work with closely, and discuss all aspects of your brand before they begin working on a design.

You need to budget carefully for this and pay as much as you can for this stage of your branding work. It will pay dividends in the long run. A logo is for life, not just for Christmas!

2. Copying Others

While it’s smart to do your research and check out what designs and branding your competitors are using, it’s a fatal mistake to copy them in any way. Not only could you risk being in breach of copyright laws, you will always be seen as second best to the original business design.

3. Using Stock Art in Your Design

Stock art is generic and easily recognised. Your logo should be unique, not a copy of an image that is easily sourced anywhere. This is another reason it is important to use a proper designer who will design your logo from scratch.

4. Using a Design That Pleases You (and Nobody else!)

Remember that ultimately you are branding your business, not for yourself, but for your customers. You want your logo to appeal to those who are in need of a service or product that you provide. There is no point having something designed that you love, but that in no way speaks to your customers.

When a logo is designed without the customer in mind, it’s common for it to end up looking too complicated and clever. Logos should be simple to take in and understand, and this is especially important when it comes to uniforms and kits. If the logo on your uniform or kit is too complicated, it will just look like a smudge or blob on your clothes.

5. Using Too Many Different Fonts

Again, this is to do with the clarity of your logo. There are a lot of fonts to choose from, and it’s common for people to try and use too many. Too many fonts result in a confusing logo that is harder to read. In general you should only use one or two fonts maximum.

It’s also important that you choose an appropriate font. If you run a gentleman’s tailoring business, for example, you wouldn’t want to select a font that is childlike or feminine. Of course, something that is too ‘blocky’ or rough will also give the wrong impression.

Creating a logo for your company, while an important task that can take time and resources, is also a fun process in which you can see your business starting to come to life. The next step to take once you have your perfect logo design is to get it printed on your kit or uniform by a good printing company that will make sure your logo is printed to the exact specification and at a high quality.

For more information on t-shirt printing and clothing embroidery specialists contact us today or call us on 0800 072 5334.

About the author

Arron was born in Southampton. He has been a restaurant owner, Paratrooper, T shirt printer, Managing Director and Marketing professional. He likes running through the woods,surfing,Muay Thai, Mojitos and T shirt related stuff.

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